Currently testing this pre-release version of Windows 10 Enterprise Edition and it looks like it "might" be a keeper. I've had it on this computer now for about a week and other than a shortage of drivers for this old hardware it seems to be working OK.

This new version of Windows comes with the old style "Start" button and program menu but looks quite a bit different from Windows 7. I don't believe the learning curve will be very hard for the average user though.

The version I have, which is free, will work until April 15, 2015 so I've got some time to play with it before it dies.

If anything new jumps out at me while I'm testing it I'll post it here.

Still testing with this Windows 10 pre-release and it still seems to work OK other than it's missing video drivers for my old ATI 3D card. I've installed some old 1999 software and Unreal Tournament on it and that went well but as I said, with the lack of 3D drivers it doesn't work well after that.

There's been a newer pre-release version put out but since it's almost 4Gigabytes in size I haven't bothered to update to that one. Microsoft has put some updates in the version I'm currently running though and that seems to have fixed a bug I had with the mouse.

Ennywho this one looks pretty good but I woudn't recommend it for old hardware due to the missing drivers for 3D video.

As per Micros$oft at the news conference today, anyone with a Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 computer will be allowed to upgrade to Windows 10 for FREE for one year after it's released this coming fall.

Microsoft to deliver free upgrades to Windows 10The company hopes to encourage customers to embrace its new operating system by offering a free refresh for multiple devices.by Donna Tam and Nick Statt January 21, 2015 9:41 AM PST

Microsoft will offer free upgrades to Windows 10 -- the next version of its operating system -- first for Windows 8.1 users and then for Windows 7 users, the company announced Wednesday.

In the first year the software is available, the company will upgrade any devices running Windows 8 to Windows 10 for free, according to Terry Myerson, Microsoft's executive vice president of operating systems. The free upgrade will also apply to Windows 7 devices and Windows Phone 8.1 devices.

The free upgrade is only available for the first year. Microsoft has yet to announce the software's price for the upgrade after that one-year window.

"We think of Windows as a service," Myerson said during Microsoft's Windows 10 unveiling event in Redmond, Wash. "Now developers can target every single Windows device."

The move is likely designed to convince consumers that Windows is worth the effort. Windows 10 is an attempt to wipe the slate clean after missteps with Windows 8, including a new start menu that attracted complaints from PC users, who sorely missed the traditional menu.

More than half of all desktops in the world still run Windows 7. Almost 20 percent still run Windows XP, a 14-year-old operating system. Windows 8.1 has yet to reach 10 percent.

Hardware companies have increasingly been giving away software upgrades to keep their users tied to their ecosystems. Apple, for example, has made both its Mac OS and iOS free, as well as many of its productivity and photo management tools.

With Windows 10, Microsoft hopes it can inspire customers to seek out its products, rather than feeling like they have to use them.

Pulling that off is no easy feat, but it's critical to Microsoft's future. The company is aggressively simplifying its entire platform under the "one Windows" vision of CEO Satya Nadella, which promises to make this next iteration of Windows run on every desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone. To make this work, Microsoft is readying a significant change to how it and its developer community will deliver, manage and build next-generation software for every device -- with one store and with one way for consumers to download and access programs across screens.

Correction at 10:35 a.m. PT: The one year of free upgrades applies to Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 devices.

UPDATE: Well, I downloaded the new 1/20/15 beta release of Win 10 (build 9926) Monday night and there's been a BUNCH of changes made since I loaded 9841, and not any for the good I might add!! I spent the better part of the afternoon yesterday trying to disable all the "shiite" that was cluttering up the desktop and this after I installed the Windowz 8/8.1 "Classic Shell" desktop so I could get around at all. So the more they hork with it, the worse it seems to get!!

There's also still a major problem with drivers for legacy hardware and that's a "non starter" for those of us with older systems. I tried in vain to install some of the hardware drivers for Win 7 in 10 but to no avail. :(

REVIEW: At one point I was thinking this one might be a keeper but it looks now like they are going to continue to load it up with "shiite" until it's just a pile of that in the end, which only goes to prove that you can polish a turd, but in the end it's still a turd and it smells the same!

Oh, and that download was 4.3 GIGABYTES in size (full single layer DVD) and it took quite a while to download it!

Been a while since I updated this thread but I have one over on Speed Talk that has more current posts. Here is a link to two posts on Windows 10 that I started there about the same time I started this one.